Roy Rose brought Royal Polaris home to Fisherman’s Landing December 22 after the annual Izorline 16-day trip with 17 anglers aboard. Howard Hada was chartermaster. Skipper Rose noted there were 13 cows taken, including a super cow caught by Larry Eilbott of St. Louis.

Larry’s fish weighed in at 324 pounds, but was ineligible. His 203-pounder took third place, however. He used a boat kite outfit on the big fish, baiting a salami on a 9/0 Super Mutu hook from Owner, 130-pound Izorline spectra and an Accurate 50 W reel.

“We spent two days on the Hurricane Bank,” said chartermaster Hada, “and then moved into the Buffer Zone for the rest of the fishing. There were lots of 180 to 200-pound tuna and smaller fish as well. The best of the fishing seemed to be early in the morning and late in the afternoon.”

Steve Williams of Lakewood won first place for a 234.8-pounder. He said he got it with a sardine on a ringed Owner Super Mutu hook and 130-pound Izorline, with 130-pound Izorline spectra on a Cal Sheets-treated Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 770 XH rod. He also had a tuna of 200.4 pounds.

“He took about 45 minutes,” said Steve, “and he came up on the port corner of the stern.”

Regular RP rider Craig Drummond of Corona won second place for his 209-pound tuna. He told dock reporter Bill Roecker it bit on a sardine and a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu on 130-pound Momoi leader and 130-pound Line One spectra on a Penn 50 T reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

Neil Campbell had a 288-pounder. He said it bit a double sardine rig under the kite, with the baits on 7/0 Super Mutu hook. He used 130-pound Line One spectra and a Penn 80 reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Calstar 770 H rod. George Iwashita got one at 201; Kent Fukumoto bagged a 226-pounder; Keith Patterson took tuna of 200.2, 202.4 and 243 pounds; John Halcrow had a 218 and Fred Falls got one that weighed 213 pounds.

The last boat in for Christmas this season had the best fish of the year to date: a 355-pound whopper of a supercow that took a squid under the kite. Jeff DeBuys skippered the 12-day trip with 29 anglers. It was billed as the Indy Cow Shootout, and it produced 11 cows, or tuna over 200 pounds.

“We had excellent drifting weather,” said skipper DeBuys. “We had many, many chances at big fish. We lost one other tuna that looked as big as the big one.”

Mark Backes of Del Mar won first place for his big boy. He said he got it with a boat rig that featured a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 130-pound Izorline spectra, an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXXH rod. He said his previous best tuna was a 240-pounder.

“There was a huge explosion on my kite bait,” he remembered, “when he slurped it up, and then he took all but 50 yards on my spool. He fought straight out for an hour, took me around the boat twice, and came in up on the port side bow.”

John Lawrence of Glendale got a 286-pounder and won second place. He couldn’t make the lineup shot, so deckhand Matt Kaullen posed with his fish.

Dog Mets of Cornville, AZ won third place for a 275-pound yellowfin he got with a sardine on a ringed Owner 7/0 Super Mutu hook on 80-pound Izorline on a Tyrnos 30 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

Hubert Owen of Downey got his best tuna ever, a 265-pounder, on a squid under the kite with the boat’s rig. His previous best fish was a 100-pounder at Guadalupe Island.

Paul Gerts of Santa Rosa took an hour with his best fish, a 274.8-pound yellowfin tuna. He got it with a squid under the kite. He used a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 130-pound Line One spectra, an Accurate ATD 50 W reel and a Calstar 7465 XXXH rod.

Phil Havlicek of San Francisco caught a 233.5-pounder with a sardine on a 4/0 Hayabusa hook on 130-pound P-Line fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra on an Avet 50 N reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod.

Bill and Debbie Roecker and Paul Sweeney want to wish all of our viewers a happy holiday season, with our best wishes for a great New Year. The first boats will go back out on the water right after Christmas, and we’ll keep you posted and up to date with what’s going on out on the water.

Bill will be updating his records over the next few days, and will post a report on the number of 200-pound-plus tuna caught so far this season (from October to June) as soon as the results are determined. Keep an eye on this spot—that’s where you’ll get the long range news first!